West Cumbria homeless charity gets funding boost from The Cumberland
Funding from The Cumberland Building Society will help a West Cumbrian homeless charity employ an outreach worker for its residents.
The building society has pledged that for every vote cast by customers at its AGM this month it will donate £2 to Calderwood House in Egremont.
That money will be used to cover the cost of an outreach worker which was cut after Calderwood House lost its local authority-funding for the post last year.
Run by Time to Change West Cumbria, Calderwood House is a 10-bedroom emergency hostel for people aged 25 and over, prioritising military veterans and those with a local connection to the former Copeland area.
Housed in a converted police station since opening in 2015, it offers far more than just a roof over people's heads, helping residents rebuild their lives and move towards permanent accommodation.
The Cumberland's chief executive, Stuart Miller, visited the charity to meet staff and residents, and see its work, and said it had been chosen because of the impact it has across the community.
"Calderwood House does an amazing job in helping homeless people get re-established into permanent housing of some sort," he said. "It's an absolutely amazing cause. Get your votes in and we can do fantastic work with great organisations like Calderwood House."
The AGM donation will help restore that outreach work, providing practical support to people after they leave the hostel to help them establish successful tenancies.
Rebecca Irving, manager of Calderwood House, said the funding would make a tangible difference.
"It's going to be invaluable," she said.
"We did have a permanent outreach worker that was funded by the local authority and unfortunately we lost that funding last year. So that post went, and we lost our outreach worker.
"The money from The Cumberland is going to fund the outreach work that had been done in the past. Currently we're just doing the bare bones of it when people move on because we just don't have the money to pay staff to do outreach, but this money will help get residents settled in their properties."
She explained that outreach workers help former residents with everything from ensuring housing benefit is in place and setting up direct debits to reading gas meters and understanding household bills.
"It will help people sustain a tenancy to avoid the revolving door syndrome of what used to happen before we had outreach - people would get a tenancy, be left on their own, not know how to run a house and end up back here.”
Founded by Rachel Holliday, who experienced homelessness herself before establishing the charity, Calderwood House has become a vital safety net for people experiencing homelessness in West Cumbria.
The hostel has 10 rooms, but demand continues to outstrip supply, with residents often staying six to 12 months because of a shortage of affordable housing. Staff continue to support people long after they move on, helping them build the skills and confidence needed to maintain independent living.
Stuart Miller said supporting organisations like Calderwood House reflects The Cumberland's long-standing commitment to the communities it serves.
"These places are critical to the fabric of local communities," he said.
"The Cumberland is so deeply embedded in this part of the world and, as part of the community, I think we see our relationship with organisations like this as being incredibly important.
The Cumberland has supported Calderwood House previously through initiatives including its Kinder Kitchen initiative, while Ms Irving officially opened the building society's Egremont branch last year.
The positive impact of Calderwood House’s work is reflected in the number of residents who return to become staff members or volunteers. One such is Ian Duncan, now a full-time support worker who says the place saved his life.
“I was in a really bad place before. But then I came here, I structured my life again and that was all through Calderwood House.
“It gave me my life back. A few years ago I lost my Mam, and my life spiraled out of control, I was street homeless for a few weeks and then Calderwood House helped me.
“To return the favour I came back to volunteer, and from there I've ended up being employed full time. I’ve come full circle.”